My life is busy.
I get up in the morning and get myself ready before I wake up the kids. My oldest kid is sweet and cooperative in the morning. He just gets up and does his thing.
I wake up my middle kid. Up and down the stairs I walk, greeting my youngest with a smile and waking up my middle child, again.
I check on my son who’s on his way down for breakfast and have my daily discussion with my young fashion queen. Then I wake up my middle child. In between giving instructions, brushing teeth and combing hair I tidy up and load the washing machine.
Then I wake up my middle child.
By this time my waking her up is accompanied by a series of serious threats. Usually that does the trick.
Lunches are packed and I make sure the kids eat before rushing them out the door on their way to school.
As I drive back home after the last drop off, my hand reaches for the radio.
Daily. Same button, same action, same feeling.
My life consists of routines and familiarities.
Hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, into months, into years.
Little things shift and change. I don’t have to buckle up my kids in the car, they do it themselves, I no longer pick out all the clothes. If they want a drink they pour it themselves.
It is almost impossible to imagine, but one day I will miss these routines.
I have to remind myself frequently not to take them for granted.
And I have to force myself every now and then to pause, look my kids in the eye and not rush by them on my way to the next chore.
What I have right here and now is amazing.
But because it is here every single day, I tend to forget.
My days are so busy with tasks that they go by far too quickly.
And ever since I started working outside of the house more,
it seems the pace of my life has doubled in speed.
I start my week on Monday and before I can even blink it’s already Friday.
So when I’m folding laundry I pause to look at my kids.
When I’m cooking, I take a second to stop and smile at them.
If I walk past my kids I take a moment to hug or kiss them on the forehead.
And after dinner we dance, I always have time to do silly dances with my kids. Because how ever fast my life goes by, I do have the power to pause it in those little moments.
Do you take time to pause?
How do you make sure life doesn’t pass you by too quickly?
This is an original post to World Moms Blog from our mom of three in the Netherlands, Mirjam.
The photo used in this post is attributed to McKay Svage. It holds a Flickr Creative Commons attribution license.
Mirjam
Mirjam was born in warm, sunny Surinam, but raised in the cold, rainy Netherlands. She´s the mom of three rambunctious beauties and has been married for over two decades to the love of her life. Every day she´s challenged by combining the best and worst of two cultures at home. She used to be an elementary school teacher but is now a stay at home Mom. In her free time she loves to pick up her photo camera. Mirjam has had a life long battle with depression and is not afraid to talk about it. She enjoys being a blogger, an amateur photographer, and loves being creative in many ways. But most of all she loves live and laughter, even though sometimes she is the joke herself. You can find Mirjam (sporadically) at her blog Apples and Roses where she blogs about her battle with depression and finding beauty in the simplest of things. You can also find Mirjam on Twitter and Instagram.
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I also do my very best not to see my children as ‘chores’. Of course they aren’t!
A lovely post to remind me of the beauty in my daily routine.
Thank you so much, Mirjam!
This post was a reminder to myself too.
When I really stop to think about it, I am pretty sure that one day I will miss these routines that I tend to mindlessly accept as part of my existence.
Thank YOU for commenting, Katinka!
I need to remind myself constantly to pause and enjoy these moments, precious and fleeting as they are. Thank you for writing this.
I think we all need a reminder from time to time.
Thank you for commenting!
A few weeks ago, I drove my preschooler to school, while thinking about everything I had to do that day once I returned to my computer. I rang the buzzer. And rang the buzzer. It had been an inservice day for teachers on a Wednesday, and I missed it on her school calendar!
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. The next two days were teacher conference days for both of my kids, and I was planning to tie all of my loose ends on this very day. I had to think of something.
I wound up taking my daughter to a place where we could craft together at a local museum. They have a room with all recyclable items for children to create. We made a whale out of an overturned black frozen dinner container, as well as, various other random creations. She loved it. I paused. What was planned to be done during day, would have to be done at night that day. I joked that I was working on Asia hours that week.
I was forced to pause. I need to find more opportunities to plan to pause. Thank you for writing this, Mirjam!
Jen 🙂
That must have been such a stressful moment at the school door.
But it sounds like the two of you had a wonderful day together, Jen!
Those moments of pausing, (even the forced ones), are the best.
Wishing you lots of mini pause moments, without the added stress ofcourse!